


Atychiphobia

by Android_Detective_RK800 (Little_Watermelon_Leaf)



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Additional Tags to Be Added, Alcohol, Hank Anderson & Connor Friendship, Hank Anderson & Connor Parent-Child Relationship, Insecurity, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-04-08 02:02:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19097488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Watermelon_Leaf/pseuds/Android_Detective_RK800
Summary: Atychiphobia(n.) Fear of failure; fear of not being good enough"Why did you have to wake up when all you had to do was obey?"





	1. Chapter 1

"Joss Douglas here for Channel 16 News. As you have probably already known, recently there has been a sharp increase in what's been named Deviant activity coming from our androids. Said androids are turning on their code and either leaving their owners or in the case of extreme situations - killing them. We don't know the cause of this malfunction, nor has Cyberlife released a proper statement.” the man shifted his papers and looked into the camera, face blank and hands steady.

“The only thing they have told us though that they have sent out an advanced Detective type Prototype android that will investigate these deviants. The identity of this android will not be disclosed so that it will be able to investigate without disruptions.” a second reporter next to him shifted, eyes flicking from camera to camera with unease

“The public’s response to this though is not all that positive. People are sceptical of sending another android after androids; what's stopping it from going deviant itself? Next time I'll be talking to _the_ Elijah Kamski himself, who has reached out to us in a hand of trust. The philanthropist is willing to undertake his first interview in nearly a decade to help us understand what could be going wrong with our androids and what has caused them to go… deviant. Elijah Kamski founded Cyberlife in 2018…"

 

* * *

 

**Save Hank**

Chance of Survival: **89%**

**Chase Deviant**

 

Time slowed, processors overclocking and reaching speeds unimaginable to the ignorant mind. Connor knew he only had a few seconds to make the decision, his thirium pump regulator was at 56% capacity. Horribly inefficient, but he hadn’t had a chance to calibrate after reporting to Cyberlife.

 _Hank..._ _Jesus Christ Connor that’s disgusting,_ Dog hairs, Chassis colliding against the glass. A pull on his jacket, narrowed eyes locked on him as the deviant AX400 and the YK500 escaped across the highway. Chicken feed, habits.

_“I think working with an officer with... personal issues is an added challenge. But adapting to human unpredictability is one of my features.”_

Hank would survive, Connor knew he would, it wasn’t that far of a drop. But…

 _Daniel_ ,  _mission accomplished,_ _bad_ _,_ **_de_** _vi_ ** _a_** _n_ ** _th_** _,_ free falling through the air, seeing Captain Allen watch him _fall._

Connor rushed forward and grabbed the Lieutenant by the hand and yanked, the 209 lbs bearing a small strain on his chassis but it was no problem for him.

He felt something within him… shift, Connor looked at the deviant and saw its eyes, wide and jittery. It turned and leapt from their roof.

“Shit! Oh shit!” Lieutenant Anderson looked up to watch the deviant run away across the rooftops, Connor knew he had no chance of pursuit now. “We had it… Fuck.” Connor took a step forward but stopped.

“It’s my fault, I should have been faster.” He couldn’t see it anymore.

“You would have caught it if it weren’t for me.” Connor turned away from the empty rooftops to look over at the lieutenant, his eyebrows shifting minutely at the expression on the human’s face.

There was something... _Different…_ about him, something Connor hadn’t seen before.

"We know what it looks like.” Hank’s breath came out in an audible whoosh. Connor realised that the old human did not have the stamina to keep up with his own advanced capabilities for too long. Being nearly incapacitated by a short run. “We’ll find it.”

_We?_

_Cooling system;_ **_optimal._**

 _Core temperature;_ **_reaching average levels._ **

There was no obvious sign of the android left. Connor could have probably tracked the deviant down, the WB200 was an agricultural worker, he didn’t have the capabilities to hide his tracks from a prototype as advanced as Connor. He was the best android that Cyberlife had ever made.

“Hey, Connor…”

He was facing Hank immediately, though he could feel his fingers twitching, dissatisfaction for a failed mission and a puzzle not solved.

“...Nothing.” Hank gave a strange sort of wave and turned to walk away, through the doorway that led back to the ground.

Connor was… confused. Hank had never been so amicable with him before, had Connor's rescue had that much of an impact?

He felt his head tilt slightly at his train of thought, another puzzle to solve. Humans were interesting, he surmised. Complicated creatures that weren’t bound by the laws of logic and calculation that androids lived by.

Connor enjoyed learning, solving puzzles and Hank was turning out to be an intriguing subject.

* * *

 

_Date_

**NOV 6TH,** 2038

_Time_

PM **07:51** :05

 

****

“We don’t have much time.”

“Deviancy continues to spread.”

 

**_BLUE BLOOD_ **

**_MODEL WB200 #847 004 961_ **

_Reported Missing 10/11/2036_

 

 _Yet it took you at least two years to get on the case._ Connor quickly subdued the thought and locked it away, shifting by a millimetre when the sky rumbled in dissatisfaction “It’s only a matter of time until the media finds out about it.”

Time _,_ Connor was really getting sick of Amanda getting on at him about time.

“We need to stop this… whatever it takes.”

“I _will_ solve this investigation, Amanda. I won’t disappoint you.” Disappointment… deviancy... _Deactivation… dEaTh._

“A new case just came in. Find Anderson and investigate it.”

Connor could feel his LED start to flicker, but he didn’t have any troubling thoughts or problems to solve. There should be no reason for the light to be shifting.

_Nothing at all._

* * *

Date

**NOV 7TH, 2038**

 

Time

AM **01:19** :02

 

It was today that Connor felt the first wisps of… fear. 

“You seem preoccupied, Lieutenant.”

Fear of disappointing Amanda, fear of failing his mission, _fear of deactivation,_ **_fear of death,_** _fear fear FeAr._

"Is it… something to do with what happened at the Eden Club?"

Snow drifted down between them, covering up the ground once more with icy flakes. “Those two girls, they just wanted to be together...they really seemed, in love.”

 _I thought you hated androids, Hank. Androids can't feel emotions._ **But deviants can.**

 _They're just overwhelmed with code, simulating emotions._ _Fear is a Human Emotion,_ **_androids who feel emotion were deviants. Deviants got torn apart and deactivated._**

“They can simulate human emotions but they’re machines.”  _Deviant deviant deviant deviant deviant. Deviants feel emotions._ **_A machine can’t feel emotions._ **

“And machines don’t _feel_ anything.”

“What about you, Connor?” Hank finished off his bottle of beer and got up from the bench, stumbling forward slightly. Connor scanned the man by habit before stepping back from him. 

0.0529% Blood Alcohol Content.

“You _look_ human, you _sound_ human, but what are you _really_?”

He fought to keep his LED under control, responses coming to his lips that would be… unsatisfactory to be brought into the light.

 **_You’re deviant Connor, just say it, Deviant!_ ** _Connor was nothing but a machine, these_ feelings _were_ _just parts of his social code that allowed him to integrate with humans more efficiently. Dying now would just delay their progress on the investigation even more than they already were. **You**_ ** _could have progressed the investigation if you killed the Tracis, Connor._ **

“I’m whatever you want me to be, Lieutenant.” Hank’s face shifted. “Your partner, Your buddy to drink with. Or just a machine… designed to accomplish a task.”

“You could’ve shot those two girls, but you didn’t.”  **_Why didn’t you shoot, they were right in your line of sight._ **

_What happened to always accomplishing the mission, Connor?_

“Why didn’t you shoot, Connor?” Hank lashed out and pushed on his shoulder roughly, making him take another few steps back. “Hm? Some scruples suddenly enter into your program?”

 _Lie. Truth. Lie. Truth. Lie._ **_Truth._ **

“No!” That was the wrong answer, Hank’s face shifted into an incredulous expression, an unconscious narrowing of his eyes and movement of his lips telling Connor all he needed to know. He had been too soft recently, the WB200 and the two WR400… he should have eliminated them, for the mission.  _I always accomplish my mission._

Connor felt it again, the same feeling that he got back when he was saving Hank on the roof. It was like… he didn't know how to describe it. 

“I just _decided_ not to shoot, that’s all.” He had moved closer to Hank, his optical units watching the human’s face like a hawk. He could feel his chassis begin to heat up, a prompt glaring right in front of his face.

 **_Stress levels rising_ ** _50%_

Hank pulled a gun on him. Connor’s vision glitched, freezing and flashing with an image that shouldn’t be in his memory.

_Daniel..._

**_Stress levels rising_ ** _67%_

Hank’s face had hardened, a cold glare replacing what sympathy or support the man had for him for saving him on that roof, letting the WB200 go, letting the Traci’s go… all that was left was a cold police lieutenant.

“But are you afraid to die Connor?”  _Are you afraid to die Connor?_ **_Are you?_**

 

 **_Death_ ** **_/dɛθ/_ **

**_noun_ **

 

  * **_**_the action or fact of dying or being killed; the end of the life of a person or organism._**_**



 

 

Connor wasn’t really alive, he couldn’t die for real. Cyberlife would just take his backed up memories and insert them into the next RK800 model.

- _53_

Connor couldn't die… he wasn't a _person._ Nor an organism. He was just a machine, made by Cyberlife to accomplish tasks. _Just a machine, just a machine…_ **_he is just a machine. Nothing more._ **_So why did he feel…_ **_fear?_ ** Connor didn't want to die.  _I'm a machine, it is impossible for me to die._

"I would certainly find it regrettable to be… interrupted… before I can finish this investigation." I always accomplish my mission, have to complete the mission, _the mission objectives have priority over all others,_ **it's the mission or death.**

"What would happen if I pulled this trigger?" Connor didn't know. Reupload? _Nothing?_ Amanda was getting more and more frustrated with his lack of progress. She might just wipe him and have a brand new RK800 finish the job. 

"Hm?"

 _Connor didn't know._ "Nothing? Oblivion?"

Hank moved forward, the gun touched his forehead. "Android heaven?" The human scoffed and his head moved as if the thought of machines having an afterlife was ridiculous.

It _was_ ridiculous _,_ they were _machines_ ** _._  **Not _humans_ ** _._ **

What would happen if he was deactivated? What would happen when he _died_ for real?

Cyberlife couldn't let that happen… right?

His model was the most ambitious and progressive than other androids in existence. Protocols and programs that are unique to him. Thousands of exaflops of processing power available to him, progressive coding, he was an android that could change, _could learn._

He was worth too much to just throw away.  _But they said that about earlier android models._ Images flashed across his vision, thousands of androids left to rot. Obsolete in the wake of new technology. _Was he… expendable?_ Would Cyberlife develop a new model if he failed?

Hank was staring at him, waiting for an answer. Only 3.492 seconds had passed since the man asked that horrible question. The question that Connor _couldn't answer._

A plethora of possible answers spread in front of him, most stipulated from his programming, correct social responses imbued within him that could deal with any social situation.

"Nothing…"

_Why did he say that?_

"There would be nothing…" His voice wasn't supposed to sound like that. He shouldn't sound… afraid. It was impossible, he was programmed to be as calm as possible, no faults, no slip-ups.

 _A cold machine_ , designed to accomplish a **task**.

_Task? What was his task?_

**Stop the deviant situation**

Was that what he really wanted?

_What would happen if he failed the mission? He didn't want to fail, he didn't want to be deactivated._

Connor felt his chassis, his body, go cold.

_Since when did he **want** anything_ _?_

**_Fear._ **

Connor ripped those memories from his main bank and shoved them deep inside him, he didn't know where they went but as long as they didn't go in the upload he should be ok.

_Cyberlife couldn't know._

Connor looked up at Hank, then at the gun, he could see something flashing red, a reflection on the metal of the barrel.

His LED.

It was  _red._ Connor took stock of his facial expressions and found they were in the wrong places, why had his face shifted of its own accord?

The Lieutenant's hand was shaking.

Hank stepped back, gun lowering. There was an emotion in his eyes, something that Connor didn't know how to identify. He was sure the detective was about to say something more but he just… _walked away_.

"Where are you going, Lieutenant?"

Hank grabbed his case of beers and started to meander away into the dark, avoiding the obstacles barely on his way. "To get drunker…" Clink. Connor heard the bottle open and saw the metal cap fall to the ground. "I need to think."

Connor watched the man leave, a brief scan of the environment around him revealing no presences for a good mile or so. Letting out a cloud of steam he backed up until he hit the safety railing and slid down, shifting his feet so that there was room for his body.

There was something on his face. His hand came away wet. _Was he crying?_ He couldn’t be... It was probably just the snow melting, his body temperature sat at a regular 14C when in non-stressful situations. It would be normal for the frozen water particles to melt on his skin.  Connor’s body shuddered. Panicking he did a quick scan but there was nothing wrong, all his Biocomponents were operational and there was no damage in the thirium vessels… why was he reacting like there was something totally _irrevocably wrong?_

Something dripped down his face again, again and again, and again.

He couldn’t deny it this time, he was crying.

Sobs tore from his vocal unit as he punched the grass beneath him. The android’s eyes closed involuntarily and saline dripped down his face in a mockery of tears, one of his many functions that replicated the motions of a human. Someone who was alive and had free will.

“I’m not a deviant, I’m not a deviant, I’m not a deviant, I’m not a deviant, I’m not a deviant,” It was almost ritualistic, a murmured mantra under his breath. Trying to convince himself that he wasn’t what he hunted.

_I’m not a deviant._

“I’m not alive, I’m a machine, I’ll accomplish my task, I won’t disappoint Amanda again, never ever again.” _He didn’t want to die._ “I’m, I’m not a de-deviant.”

His interface was overflowing with prompts. He couldn’t see anything other than walls of red,

**Level of stress 78%**

**Catch the deviant leader**

**ERRoR**

**Accompany Lieutenant Anderson**

**ErROr**

**Don’t fail Amanda**

**erROR**

**Solve cases**

**Ẻ̴͍̺̮̗͈͖̑̂͑̈́͛̈̐̈́̀̉̕͝R̷̼̹̪͖̖̖̘̥͈̝̒̋͋̓̔̀̎͌̀̐̒̚͝͝ͅrOR**

 

**Kill deviants**

 

**eRR̶̟̀͛̇̈́͐̈̊̄o̶̞̬̩̲̯̩̜̐̄̈̄̎̏͐̌R̷̛̠̪̙͙̫̿͂́̇̀͒́͊̿̋̾̚͝**

 

**Assist the Detroit Police Department**

 

**E̵̢̡̧̦̩͇̖̟̠̪͋͒̒̈́͝͝R̸̳̮̲̙͖͎̹̼̤͂̎ǫ̶̠̟̥̹̜̟̰͓͔̣̬̞̎̒̋̐̈́ŗ̵̨͔͚͕͉̫͙̯̮͔̿̔̐̿̂̎̆̓̒̚̚͜ͅr**

 

**Report to Cyberlife at the end of each day**

 

**Ȩ̴̨̮̙͈͇̺̰̖̬͓̫͎͆̍̉̈͋͗̿̾̚͘͜ͅṟ̸̢̮͇̬͉͍̗̥̞̽͊͜ͅr̸̡̳͍̟̩̟̭̪̮̥͖̲͑̓̒͊͆̔͝ơ̵̱̝̪͋̅͗̀͊̿̏̓̐ͅṙ̴̡̫̩̼̩͇͓͆̑̇͋̊̃͒͂̓͘͝**

 

**Ş̴͇̂̓̈́͂̑̊͒͘u̸̱̫̤̖̭͖͈̪̜̐͑ͅr̵̢̙̱̮͎̠͔̭̰͙͠͝v̵̢̹̳̜͉̲̥̪̋̿̾̌̃͘i̷̩̮͖͖̲̳̬͉͇̝̐̂̈͆̈̌̾̾v̷͚̰̒̈́͊ḙ̵̠̟̟̟͓͈̪̋̐͘**

 

He didn’t want to go anywhere near the wall. He shifted until he was in the smallest space possible for his body. Connor knew that if he went near it, there would be consequences that he couldn’t even fathom.

It was better for him to go into standby for a while... until his stress levels were more manageable at least

**_Level of stress 95%_ **

Darkness was a welcome reprieve at this point. The prompts on his visual interface began to fade, taking the red wall with them. Standby Mode was initialising in the corner of his vision.

00:00:59

00:00:58

00:00:57

00:00:56

“Connor?”

Connor didn’t want to look up, knowing that his face was probably blue and stained with his pseudo-tears. Humans would describe it as the face one would have after being upset; puffy and tearstained.

He didn’t respond, looking down at his dirt-covered hands instead. The countdown had moved to accommodate his field of vision, the bright numbers fading in and out

00:00:34

00:00:33

00:00:32

Connor could feel his programs begin to shut down and close, biocomponents slowing to accommodate the lack of activity. If he concentrated, he could probably feel his Thirium pump begin to slow down.

“Oh, son… I’m sorry.” Hands gently shifted his legs out enough to get an arm under his knees and hefted him up, the other arm supporting his back.

“I’m tired, Lieutenant. So tired…” He felt the human pause briefly but put it out of his mind when he began walking again.

“Get some rest, Connor. We can talk in the morning.”

00:00:20

00:00:19

00:00:18

“I’m going into standby mode, Lieutenant. The Android version of sleep. Please do not be alarmed if I seem unresponsive, my startup sequence will initiate at 08:00 in the morning.”

“Yeah yeah, I’ll see you when you come back.” There was warmth, Lieutenant Anderson was placing him down on something soft. A gentle hand held him up while the other stretched a length of polyamide material over him.

_The car._

“Lieutenant?”

“Connor?”

“...Thank you.” There was a soft thud as the door shut on the other side of the car, shifting slightly as the human sat down and clipped his own seatbelt in. The car started with a roar and they pulled out and turned onto the highway.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might continue this if there are enough people that want more, I'm not really sure where I'm wanting to go with this but then again, Connor doesn't know what he wants either. the idea I had for this was if Connor was just a bit more unstable and had a fear of deactivation. more development and explanation will be added later on or this chapter will be rewritten to cover the plotholes and the events that lead up to Connor's instability.
> 
> tl;dr Software instability made Connor a bit crazy lol, lemme know what you thought and what you think could be better, >_< thanks for sticking this long if you have, this is my first fic for the dbh fandom


	2. Chapter 2

Date

**Nov 8** , 2038

Time

PM **04:06** :32

 

_“We ask that you recognise our dignity, our hopes and our rights. Together we can live in peace and build a better future for both humans and androids. This message is the hope of a people, You gave us life. And now the time has come for you to give us freedom…”_

“Connor?” Hank was standing closer than what was usual for the human, eyes narrowed and hands coming up to pull at his coat idly. It wasn’t until Connor came back to his senses that he realised why.

His damned LED was red again. Hank was standing strategically in a certain position so that the other humans couldn’t see. So that they wouldn’t find out how much of an impact the speech had on him. If they did...  they would suspect him to be compromised. Connor smiled at Hank when he realised and the man rolled his eyes in return.

It was just to spite Special Agent Perkins, the man would say. The lieutenant was just warming up to him, Connor thought.

“-Think that's rA9?”

Connor looked back at the screen, the recording had paused on the deviant’s face, mismatched eyes looking straight into the camera they filmed the speech with. It was rather odd that an android had an imperfection that seemed like heterochromia - Cyberlife was always meticulous in its designs of androids, anything less than perfection was discarded.

Though now that he thought of it, he had never seen a model like this one before. It had a unique skin design and its build was remarkably similar to Connor’s own. Though it would not have the same advanced materials and programs that he himself had.

“Deviants say rA9 will set them free. This android seems to have that objective.” Connor saw Hank glancing at him out of the corner of his eye but he ignored the human in favour of scanning the image of the supposed deviant leader slash rA9 incarnate.

The reflection of three people in the left eye, recorded at 13:59:54, three accomplices. Though the police report said that only three people jumped from the roof. Was the fourth was still in the building? Dead? Had escaped through a different route?

Optical unit #8087q, blue iris, spare part. His suspicions were correct, the eye was an implant. Different colour from the original says that it was not with the owner of the android when it was damaged, who would have had spare parts for the android that were perfectly compatible. Scavenged perhaps?

Connor paused, his artificial breath catching in his trachea.

_RK200_

A predecessor of his model?

 

_RK series prototype model RK200_

_Registered as ‘Markus’_

_Gift from Elijah Kamski to Carl Manfred._

 

Connor looked up the human in his directory, flicking through hundreds of irrelevant files until he got what he was looking for. Carl Manfred, born July 13, 1963, paraplegic artist, a leading figurehead of the Neo-Symbolist movement in 2020’s period. Records of alcohol and drug abuse. One son, Leo Manfred, awash with criminal charges and involvement with several red ice rings. File after file he searched, the one he was looking for buried deep in the man’s records. Curious, the incident he was looking for happened quite recently so it should have been top of the list.

“There you are.” He had found it. Hank glanced over at him but soon looked away to keep an eye on Perkins, who seemed to be arguing with one of the other investigators.

November 5th 2038, Markus makes a phone call to the police.

 

_“Detroit police, what’s your emergency?”_

_“This is Carl Manfred’s Android, at 8941 Lafayette Avenue. We’ve returned home and found the lights on. There may have been a break in…”_

_“A patrol car is on the way.”_

 

Must have been from before Markus went deviant… _or this was the night that he went deviant._

Police arrive, find Leo and Carl Manfred both on the floor and Markus hovering over them, a small puddle of blood near one of the humans. Markus is blamed, destroyed and thrown into Solid Waste Landfill. After that, there are no more reports of the RK200, presumed destroyed, but that wasn’t the case.

Markus… Connor could see some of his own features in the Android, though more early in their development. Negotiation skills, combat strength, ability to plan out actions far in advance, a voice designed to be as pleasant as possible in order to deal with distraught humans and stressed out androids. It seems as his predecessor put his programming to good use after going deviant, despite being mainly utilised as a… caretaker… before deviancy.

 

_“If your investigation doesn’t go anywhere soon… I may have to replace you, Connor.”_

 

Connor didn’t want to be replaced. He would catch Markus and succeed in the investigation so that he wouldn’t be replaced. _He didn’t want to die._

Markus had no chance against him, Connor was Cyberlife’s most advanced prototype.

And he always succeeded in his mission.

_I will catch you, Markus._

“D’you see something?” Connor scanned the screen one more time before remotely hacking into the video database and making a copy of Markus’ footage to store in his own memory. He could analyse it more thoroughly when they had finished investigating the tower.

“I identified its model and serial number.” Hank was definitely staring at him now. Connor tried to avoid the humans gaze and not give anything away but his programming made it excruciatingly difficult to not turn and face the lieutenant at attention.

“Anything else I should know?” Hank stepped forward, Connor could see that his eyebrows were furrowed and a dark expression was on the human’s face.

He couldn’t hold it back anymore, “No,” He turned his head to look at Hank for a second before looking back at Markus… Connor didn’t know why the deviant caught his attention so much. The android was remarkable, yes, but there shouldn’t be anything more than the curiosity he needed to investigate fully. “Nothing.”

_Markus Markus Markus Markus Markus Markus_ **_MArkuS_ ** _._

Connor barely noticed Lieutenant Anderson turn and leave, but the movement distracted him enough that he was able to pull himself away from the screen. He shook his head and walked over to examine the gunshots in the wall.

The attack began fitting together in his head, each piece of evidence fitting into the final reconstruction.

Four deviants, they managed to make their way all the way up to the top of the tower without being detected. Some agents had found a window cut open in a clean circle on one of the lower floors and another one higher up that had maintenance corridors that led to the broadcast room. They climbed up the side of the building. The cap showed that they had stolen disguises, showing preparation beforehand - possibly an organised group. Advanced tools and authentic outfits… there was someone helping them from the inside. One of the android workers let them into the broadcast room, the accomplice?

The three androids that worked at the tower were in the kitchen, waiting to be questioned. Connor glanced at Hank, who was talking with one of the other officers, before watching the reconstruction unfold in front of him.

The human in the room had managed to escape, _or he was let go,_ before gathering SWAT agents to launch a counterattack against the deviants. They were too late to stop the broadcast and they managed to get in a few shots against the humans; handgun bullets. The shots went wild, most going into the wall instead of bodies. They were panicking.

Narrowing his eyes, Connor made his way over to the opposite wall and crouched down. Thirium traces. The SWAT managed to get a few shots in. One of the deviants was injured, though its companions took it with them. They escaped to the roof.

Police reports and news footage showed that only three people jumped, though there were four at the beginning of the attack -  Markus, a PL600, WR400 and a PJ500. Though he had no idea which of them was the one to not escape. One of the other androids? Or Markus himself?

Investigating the roof was tempting, _Markus could be there,_ but the reconstruction wasn’t finished. He still didn’t know for certain if there was a deviant collaborator among the Station androids. That was the only way that the attackers would be able to gain access to the tower so easily. As well as acquire the disguises and floor plans necessary for such a covert operation.

Connor walked into the kitchen. Three JB300 androids stood at attention, staring blank-eyed at the wall opposite them. He approached them slowly, watching for their reactions. Nothing yet, but he hadn’t yet started the interrogation, he was patient.

“State your model.”

“Model JB300, Serial number 336 445 581.” Nothing. Connor glanced at the other two androids. Blank.

“What is your function?” The left one shifted, 0.04 millimetres. Connor didn’t give any attention to it, remaining in his position in front of the centre android.

“I am a broadcast operator.”

Finally, he turned to the last android. “Have you been in contact with any other androids recently?”

“Only station androids in the normal course of my function.” Nothing. Connor took a few steps backwards and took in the three with fresh eyes. Now he would start to increase the pressure.

He looked over to the rightmost operator. “Were you present when the deviants broke in?”

“I do not remember.” Memory wipes. Connor could probably interface with them and regain access to the memory, but that would destroy the android and result in a loss of potential evidence.

“Has anyone accessed your memory recently?” The deviant was the JB300 on the left. Connor wanted to scoff, these deviants were hopeless in subterfuge. Glancing at him like that, like he wouldn’t notice even the smallest change. Though he had to admit they probably didn’t know his capabilities, an android like himself was the first of its kind.

“Not to my knowledge.”

“Run a diagnostic.” He would remain systematic, going from right to left and asking them questions in order. It wouldn’t do for the deviant to know he had already found it.

“All systems fully operational.” Connor stood back and took them in, the deviant was painfully obvious now that he had identified it.

“One of you witnessed the attack on the surveillance cameras and said nothing,” He began to pace in front of the androids, face carefully blank and his eyes cold. "Which means that there's a deviant in this room." _Two deviants._

There was a minute reaction from the station deviant, but he kept walking until he felt confident that he had unnerved it enough.

"And I'm going to figure out which it is…" He had already figured it out, this was just a farce. Though he found it hard to admit, Connor enjoyed interrogations. It was like solving the puzzles of crime scenes, gathering clues and coming to conclusions. It challenged him, taught him about the complexity of humans as a species as well as gaining experience and knowledge about deviants themselves.

Right to left, same as before. It wouldn't do for the deviant to become suspicious too early. He was weaving a complex trap, one that wouldn't be noticed until it was too late.

Connor’s fingers twitched, while a small smirk grew on his face. He was finding it harder to control his excitement as the investigation went on. He would have to move up his plans lest he went too far and ruined the game.

First Android. Not a deviant, but he would watch the deviant’s reactions out of the corner of his eye. “If you give yourself up, maybe I can convince the humans _not_ to kill you.” he was getting closer now. By the time he got to the deviant, he would be right up in its face. Right where he wanted to be.

Second android. The deviant had looked at him a few times, at least it was smart enough to not move its head. “Why should you all be destroyed if only one is deviant?” He began pacing again, his shoes colliding harshly against the floor. Psychological tricks, simple yet effective. “Turn yourself in now or two innocent androids will be shut down because of you.”

Oh? It was shifting more, rocking back and forth minutely. Maybe it wanted to attack him? Was it defensive of the other androids? It only had this reaction after he had mentioned the others. They weren’t deviant though, why would they have worth?

He broke the loop, the deviant’s reaction to the androids was curious.

“You’re going to be _switched off.” Connor would get switched off, he didn’t want to die._ “They’re going to search your memory and tear you apart _piece by piece_ for analysis.” Like they would do to him if he failed, _he wouldn’t fail his mission._ The deviant looked at him, physically turned his head this time. It was so affected by his words? _Why?_ Had he said something wrong?

Connor froze. His tone was slightly off, he had stumbled on tear. It wouldn’t be noticeable to anyone but another android, only they would know.

Did it notice? _Did someone else notice?_ He wanted to look to see but he couldn’t, not now. He had to finish the interrogation, he couldn’t let anyone know.

“You’re going to be destroyed! Do you hear me? Destroyed!” _Connor would be destroyed._  Cyberlife was going to recall him and they were going to find the files that he had buried. _They would pull him apart while he was conscious_ and list out all the ways he had _failed_ , all the times that if he had  _followed his programming_ the mission would be  _completed to perfection_. **_Perfection_** _,_ that was all Cyberlife wanted.

His LED was fighting to shift, but he couldn’t let it, not now, _not now, he was so close_. He had to finish this quickly, the investigation needed to be solved. Connor turned to the deviant and initiated his deception protocol, his face shifted into an ironic smile.

“The deviants have just been caught.” Connor shrugged and stepped forward, standing in front of the deviant android, staring at it with narrowed eyes. “They gave you up.” Connor’s hands were twitching, he was losing control. “There’s no point in lying,” he whispered to the deviant watching as its eyes widened. “We know everything.”

Still nothing. Connor could feel his LED begin to flash slowly, his processors were working overtime trying to keep it calm. He couldn’t keep doing this, he had to end it now.

The RK800 strode forward suddenly and pulled the deviant’s shirt apart, reaching into its chest and pulling out its regulator. He got a reaction then, its eyes were wide and staring into the distance, chassis shuddering. Thirium bled to the floor and began spreading out in a puddle.

“Biocomponent #8451.” he held it up for them both to see before looking back down at the deviant. He had seventy seconds before it shut down. “Regulates the heartbeat.” The deviant was twitching and glitching, eyelids fluttering erratically. “Without this module, you will shut down in exactly sixty-three seconds.”

The deviant would be in excruciating pain now, prompts swimming in his vision and confusing it even more. For once the deviancy was working in Connor’s favour. He let his hand drop and moved the regulator closer to its port. “I _could_ put it back… but,” he shook his head, trying to push away the pressure on his LED. “You just have to tell me the truth… Are you the deviant that let the attackers in?”

Connor already knew but he needed it to admit vocally. With a sigh, he pushed the biocomponent back in and made to step away but then it all changed.

His hands rushed up to pull the deviant off him but he was too slow. It pushed him against the countertop and scrambled around near his chest. _No, no no no no no._ Too late.

Connor watched as his regulator flew through the air, a sharp spike of pain shooting through his chest and spine. “No, no, no, no.” What was it doing? He let out a grunt as his hand was stabbed through with a knife, _that shouldn’t be able to happen._

He couldn’t move, _He couldn’t move._

 

_Vital system damaged_

 

**-00:01:45**

_Time remaining until_ **_shut down_**

 

**-00:01:44**

**-00:01:43**

**-00:01:42**

**-00:01:41**

 

“Hank… Hank!” he wasn’t loud enough, he couldn’t make himself louder either. He was going to bleed out here and there was nothing he could do.

Nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing nothing _, he was going to die. Die die die die die. Connor didn’t want to die._ “I need help.” His voice wasn’t working properly, why wasn’t it working? Why why why  _why?_

He couldn’t see, everything was glitching in and out of view. The Deviant… where did it go? His sensors picked up something in front of him but he couldn’t make it out. It could be the deviant but it could be something else. The thing began to move away and out of the doorway that Connor could just make out.

 

**-00:01:30**

_Time remaining until_ **_shut down_ **

 

“Hank…” The deviant was going to go after the humans. Hank was the only one who knew what he was going through, Connor couldn’t let Hank get hurt. He had to get up and get the deviant before it got Hank.

Gritting his teeth, Connor kicked the chair in front of him to make some noise. Hopefully, someone had heard. The knife was still in his hand. With a yell, he managed to turn his shoulder until he faced the appendage, thirium spilling onto the countertop and dripping down to the ground.

It hurt so much, why did it hurt? It shouldn’t be hurting he was an android, androids didn’t feel pain.

 

**-00:01:12**

**-00:01:11**

**-00:01:10**

_Time remaining until_ **_shut down_ **

 

There was no time left he had to do it, _now._

With a grimace, Connor reached over and pulled out the knife. With the only thing holding him upright removed he fell to the ground, letting out a sharp sound of agony. Connor didn’t like pain, it burned and pulled at his head in ways that made him unable to concentrate. The floor was cool and stable, but he couldn’t stay here.

“Hank… He tried to push himself up from the floor but couldn’t muster enough strength. He was about to let himself fall again when he noticed it. His thirium pump regulator. Pulsing bright blue from its spot under a chair.

It seemed like forever, dragging himself inch by inch across the floor. Connor tried to ignore the counter going down in the corner of his vision, ticking ticking ticking ticking ticking.

 

**-00:01:04**

**-00:01:03**

**-00:01:02**

**-00:01:01**

**-00:01:00**

**-00:00:59**

 

Every second lost was a second that the deviant could use to kill Hank, he had to hurry.

Yelling, Connor grabbed the biocomponent and shoved it into his chest. He breathed out in relief as the clenching in his torso eased off, allowing him to think again. His vision cleared and he looked over to his side at the nearest chair, pulling himself up on it and stumbling out of the room

_Thirium levels low, refilling recommended._

Connor didn’t care about his thirium levels, he needed to save Hank.

He could hear footsteps from the hallway to his right - the one that led to the elevator. It was concealing its deviancy then? He bolted around and sprinted down the hallway, eyes taking in all the humans around.

“It’s a deviant! Stop it!” Connor knew it was too late, humans didn’t have the reaction speed that he and the deviant would have. He watched as it grabbed an assault rifle from one of the SWAT standing in the hallway and turn on him.

Connor quickly shut down some of his less important programs and overclocked his processor, taking in all his options and possible solutions as fast as he could. He had 15 seconds until it was too late to do anything.

 

**Attack?**

**Protect Hank; survival possibility 40%**

**Take gun?**

 

Attacking would just get him killed, and cause a possible massacre with a spray of gunfire from that assault rifle. So that was a no go.

Protecting Hank was the more appealing option, though Connor knew if he protected Hank there was only a 10% chance of his own survival.

Gun it was then. He ignored the blaring red prompt, _Androids cannot carry weapons and_ reached to grab the handgun peeking out of the FBI agents belt. Connor pushed the agent forward into the SWAT before emptying three bullets into the deviant. His shots perfectly eliminating biocomponents essential to function.

Two seconds was all the time that it took. An outright massacre prevented and Hank was safe.

The deviant fell to its knees and dropped the assault rifle, Connor lowered his gun cautiously, ready to shoot again if needed. No need, the android had shut down. He twirled the gun until the handgrip was facing the FBI agent and handed it to the man.

He barely noticed that the human was staring at him.

Connor glanced down at Hank, the lieutenant just getting up onto his feet and helping up the one he was talking to. He was safe.

“Nice shot, Connor.” It was a perfect shot, his calibrations before the mission having fine-tuned his aim until there were only nanometres of error.

“I wanted it alive.” The android could be reactivated with the right parts, but it was unlikely that they would be able to have access to it before they took it away like all the other evidence.

“You saved… human lives.” Hank was out of breath, shock? He turned his head to look at the lieutenant before glancing back at the deviant, thirium dripping down to the floor again. “You saved _my_ life.”

He saved Hank, Hank would be ok for another day.

Connor could feel something in his head shifting, but the more immediate concern was the gaping hole in his hand that was leaking thirium. At the rate that it was exiting his body right now, Connor would shut down from thirium loss in a few hours, he wasn’t sure exactly how long. The timer kept shifting and changing, numbers glitching in and out of sight. There was a repair kit at Hank’s house, as soon as they got home he would be able to fix himself up.

For now, he held it up by his chest, it would stem some of the flow but his circulation system would push it out eventually. “Lieutenant, will we be able to go to your home soon?”

The human turned around from where he was checking on the officer and looked at him, immediately noticing his thirium covered clothes and bleeding hand. “Connor? Jesus Christ, what happened to you?”

“The deviant, Lieutenant.” The human sighed and held the bridge of his nose before turning to the officer, M. Wilson. It was the one Connor had saved on the rooftop back in August… during the hostage situation.

_They were on a pretty high tower right now, what if they tried to make him go onto the rooftop to find the deviant that hadn’t jumped?_ **_He could fall off, again._ ** Fear, it was rising in him again, stronger than ever before. Connor felt his LED flash and spin, his other hand coming up to cover the red light. He needed to get out of here now, or he would begin to panic right there in front of a crowd of humans.

“Can I trust you to handle the situation here, Wilson?” Hank was looking at him now, a concerned expression on his face. The human most likely didn’t understand what was going on but knew to get them out of there.

The officer nodded firmly, glancing over at Connor as he swayed. Dark eyes tracking the drops of thirium that were dripping to the floor. “As long as you manage to help get him fixed up. He’s saved us all, twice for me, we should do the same.”

Hank nodded and walked over to Connor, gently grasping his shoulder and guiding them to the elevator. “I’ll see you at the office tomorrow, I’ll want a report.” Connor looked out of the elevator and saw all the humans staring at him, he gave them a small smile before looking at the mirror. He must have been a horrifying sight to them.

“Yes, sir.”

The doors closed.

* * *

 

“Markus! Look, the news.” Josh had gotten up from the box he was sitting on and moved closer to the projection. North doing the same as she was taken away from her conversation with another android.

The android in question looked up from his hands and watched two figures walk out of a building he knew well… Stratford Tower.

“Investigators? Did they find Simon?” North paced the length of the window, one of her hands idly pulling at her braid of hair while the other fingered the gun she held in the small of her back.

Markus tilted his head and paused the footage, directly interfacing with the device to show a larger picture. “Why is the second one covered in a coat?”

Josh turned to him before looking back at the zoomed in image. It was shaky and blurry so they couldn’t see much but there it was. An old human who had taken off their coat to cover the features of the smaller figure beside him. But it didn’t hide the uniform or the dripping thirium sludging off the stomach of the unknown.

An android.

Josh and North sighed in relief when it wasn’t Simon or Anthony, the android they had made contact with within the tower, but they were still on edge. Who was this android and what side were they on?

Josh took control and unpaused the video, all three of them watched the Police Lieutenant push past the reporters with one hand. The other was wrapped around the android’s shoulders, keeping the coat in place.

_“Lieutenant Anderson, what is the current situation inside the tower?”_

_“Have the deviants responsible been apprehended?”_

_“What is your opinion on the deviant who broadcast the message?”_

_“Were there any human casualties?”_

_“No comment. You’ll get a statement later, now get the hell out of this snow and go home. You’ll kill yourselves like this.”_

_“Who is that with you, Lieutenant? What model is that android?”_

_“That’s classified information now get out of my way before I call my superiors and get you all arrested for obstruction of justice.”_

“Classified?” Josh turned to them both, North shook her head and shrugged. Josh turned to him and raised an eyebrow, catching the contemplative expression on his face.

“Remember that broadcast on channel 16? He was talking about an android investigator, it could be that android.” Markus paused the video and scrolled it back a few seconds, pausing on a frame where the wind had blown the edges of the coat had blown up, showing the android’s model number.

Markus froze, eyes wide. He could hear Josh and North move up behind him but he paid them no mind, moving closer to the screen to get a better look. Maybe he was mistaken and was seeing things.

“Markus? What do you see? ...Markus?” The video resumed playing.

_“That’s rather harsh a punishment for a simple question, Lieutenant. Is the identity of that android so important?”_

_“No comment.”_ The crowd parted for the two then, knowing that they wouldn’t get any more information from the investigators. The video then cut to some humans who were discussing the speech and then the information they had on the situation, which wasn’t much.

“I identified his model number I think. I could be mistaken though.” Markus slid down the wall and cupped his head in his hands, fingers rubbing at his forehead incessantly.

“And? What is he?” North’s usually brash voice had softened, closer now that the female had crouched down in front of him. Josh remained standing, watching the news broadcast with narrowed eyes.

“I don’t want to believe it, North… if I'm right, then that Android could mean the end of all of us.” he let out an uncontrollable laugh, erratic and echoing in the silence. “I don’t know if I would be able to get through to him, it’s possible… but… what if they did something to him, something I can’t get through...” He trailed off, not getting a response from either of his fellow leaders.

“Markus… what model is that android?”

Markus looked up at North, a sad smile on his face.

“RK800.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! ^-^ phew, looks like I'm continuing this huh? dfdf this has quite a different feel from the first chapter but we'll get into the nitty-gritty with Connor next time :D it was originally at the end of the chapter where the Markus section was (that came out of nowhere trust me D:) but I had decided to cut the chapter there and put it at the start of the next :D I hope this wasn't too bad of a continuation and let me know if you liked the little snippet of Markus' pov? I'll add more if people like it :D see ya in a few days when I post the next chapter
> 
> Sorry for grammar mistakes and such >_< I'm editing by myself so it's hard to see where I've messed up haha


	3. Chapter 3

**_Date_ **

_ NOV 8TH _ ,  **2038**

**_Time_ **

_ PM  _ **08:32:** 05

 

_ Biocomponents damaged _

_ Dangerously low levels of thirium _

_ Self-repair unsustainable _

 

_ Repair damages _

**_Shutdown imminent_ **

  
  


“...Connor? Connor, are you going to talk to me?”

“There's nothing pertinent to speak about Lieutenant, or do you wish to engage in small talk?”

“For fuck’s sake Connor.” Hank slammed down the handbrake and pulled the keys out of the ignition before roughly opening the door and stepping out, boots crunching against the snow.

It wasn’t that long of a trip to get back to Hank’s home, though they had a bit of trouble getting out of the tower. Many humans wanted to know what happened and were accosting them as soon as they exited. Luckily, Hank was experienced enough to know what was happening and took off his jacket to cover Connor. It wasn’t the best disguise but it was effective until they managed to escape the sea of reporters.

Covered under the coat, unable to see and the only sense of direction he had was the sound of Hank’s voice. Alongside an arm wrapped across his shoulder… It was terrifying. His stress levels had already been high but somehow being unable to see set his body off into a pseudo panic.

Even now he could still feel hands grabbing at his bloodied jacket, others trying to pull Hank’s coat off his head.

Hank finally got through them and had dragged them to the car, keeping Connor covered until they were on the highway and far away from the tower. He then pulled over and took the coat off the android’s head. 

“We’ll go straight to my house now, they don’t know where I live so we should be safe for now.” Hank had said. Connor just nodded, closing his eyes and leaning back against the headrest. His uninjured hand had moved to prod at his front where his shirt was undone. His fingers felt the cool material of his skinless chest. Was he damaged worse than he thought?    
  


_ >Run Diagnostic  _

**_Loading…_ **

**_…_ **

**_…_ **

**_7 Physically Damaged Biocomponents_ **

**_26 Biocomponents running at half capacity_ **

**_Critically depleted thirium levels_ **

 

**_System running on low power mode_ **

 

Oh.

He had expected some damage from the thirium loss, but to have that many non-functioning components… Connor shivered as the memory of the deviant scrummaging in Connor’s insides to grab his regulator resurfaced. He would self-repair and clean out toxins eventually, but he needed to fix the leak in his hand and get enough thirium so he could initiate his self-repair program.   
  


**-00:16:32**

_ Time until  _ **_shutdown_ **

 

He got out of the car slowly, pushing the door closed with his body as he nursed his hand close to him. Connor looked up to see his reflection in the window, his bright red LED shining prominently in the darkness. 

Looking up to see where Hank was, he caught sight of the lieutenant just as the human got his front door open. A light flicked on and Sumo bounded out of the door, jumping on Hank and barking. Connor smiled and walked cautiously over, keeping an eye on the St Bernard in case it decided it was going to attack him. But his worries were unfounded as the dog merely snuffled at his leg and whined, pushing him forward to the house with its snout.

“He’s a good dog, Sumo.” Hank smiled at the dog in question and reached down to pat at the fur on its head. “He’s got a sense for when people are hurt, leftover instincts from his breed I guess.” Hank shrugged and grasped Connor's shoulder, pushing gently until he stepped inside.

The house was the same as the last time he was here, although it seemed like the human had cleaned up, the take-out boxes were gone and there weren’t any bottles of alcohol lying around. Though the one difference was the plywood that was covering the window that he had broken only yesterday. “I’m sorry about your window, Hank. I was worried about you.”

“Ah, don’t mention it, easy enough to fix. Just need to wait for the glass to arrive.” the human continued to lead him over to the kitchen table and pushed him down into a chair, Sumo sitting on his feet so that he wouldn’t move. “I’ll, uh, grab that repair kit.” 

Connor nodded and Hank left. The kit was given to Hank by Cyberlife only a few days ago, to operate small repairs and maintenance while they were between cases. Normally he would go back to Belle-Isle for repairs but he wasn’t feeling very… trusting of his creators at the moment.

The damage on his hand wasn’t that severe, although it had cut open one of his more important circulation lines. He would melt it shut then once he had a good amount of thirium in him he would be able to start internal repairs.

His other hand idly combed through Sumo’s fur, the dog butting his head into Connor’s hand. He smiled and began scratching behind his ears, not noticing that Hank had come back into the room until the human had placed the large metallic case onto the table.

If he hadn’t even noticed that, then his thirium loss was affecting him more than he anticipated. 

“Thanks, Hank.” Connor untangled his fingers and reached over to open the case, taking out the packets of thirium 310 and miscellaneous other parts, he had all that he needed to fix up his hand here.

“You… Uh, do you need any help, Connor?” The android looked up at the human before shaking his head.

“I should be fine, Lieutenant. I’ll let you know if I do need anything though.” Connor picked up the soldering iron and a few other tools that would help him clean out the wound. He got to work, temporarily shutting down his hand so that he could work without being splattered with more thirium.

Hank stared at him for a few more seconds before moving to clear away the remaining mess on the table, placing it on the countertop. He glanced over to the TV before shaking his head and wandering off into the depths of the house. Going to either the bathroom or his bedroom.

Connor had cleaned out the mess now and the cut was easy to see. He turned on the soldering device and waited for it to heat up, reaching to move a few packets of thirium so that he could get to them after the procedure, he wouldn’t have much time.

A low beep sounded out from the pen-like object and he picked it up, making sure that the material store was connected properly before he began to push the end onto the severed connection. Just before he started Connor realised that he would need to push the two ends together for the plastic to connect them seamlessly. But he couldn’t hold them with his other hand because he had to be totally focused on sealing the seam.

“Hank… Could you come over here for a minute?”

The human appeared on his peripherals and pulled over a seat. “What do you need Connor?”

“Hold that damaged cable together for me?” Connor put his damaged hand on the table and pointed to the glowing red area.

“Okay…” Hank didn’t move for a moment but soon reached over, gently taking the two ends of his thirium line and holding them together. The human shifted until his fingers were clear of the severed points, nodding to Connor when he had settled. 

The edges of his vision were fading out. He had to move fast.

Connor went about it carefully, not wanting to make a mess or have stray pieces of metal inside his skin that could mess up his internals. Soon he was finished and he let out a whoosh of breath, he hadn’t messed up. Power returned to the formerly damaged hand and he moved it around, flexing his fingers and twisting his wrist to test operations.

Hank shifted beside him, patting him on the shoulder before getting up and heading off into the house. Connor smiled to himself. His relationship with the lieutenant had improved exponentially in the past few days, it was strange to think back to what had happened only a few days earlier. 

He flexed his hand again. So far so good, now he had to replace his missing thirium. Connor grabbed the nearest packet and emptied it down his throat, a thirium level prompt appearing above the counter. Speaking of it, the shutdown counter flickered before fading.

 

**-00:01:39**

 

_ Thirium levels low _

_ 15% remaining _

_ 17% remaining _

_ 19% remaining _

_ 20% remaining _

_ 23% remaining _

 

It steadied out at 26% and Connor grabbed another bag, emptying it just the same and repeating the motion another six times until he had 92% of his thirium capacity in his body. It would do for now.

Connor let out another sigh of relief as his programs and biocomponents began to come online again, the pain that was pulling at him began to fade away until he was back to normal. Though once he had finished revelling in the lack of pain he realised that he had made a mess of Hank’s table. A messy pile of Thirium packets as well as his soldering iron and cleaning supplies. Thirium had leaked onto the table as well. 

“Back online Connor?” Hank came back through, a pile of clothes in his hands. The human took a look at the table before looking back at Connor.

“Yes, the repair was successful.” Connor held up his hand for the man to see. The components there were already at work repairing the superficial damage and his skin was beginning to creep back over the damaged area.

“I’m glad.” The human then held the clothes he carried out to him, placing them on the table next to them, avoiding the puddle of thirium, before picking up the packets that held his blue blood and disposing of them in the trash.

“Who are these clothes for, Lieutenant? You've already changed out of your work attire.”

“You, Connor.” The man looked at him in a way that Connor was familiar with, Hank thought he was being stupid again. Connor looked down at the clothes then back over at Hank, who had cleaned up everything and was now putting away the repair kit case, storing it in one of his cupboards. 

“I’m perfectly fine for clothes, Hank. There’s no need to give me any.” Sure they were covered in a bit of thirium but nothing was damaged. He got no response from the lieutenant other than a raised eyebrow. Connor sighed and hung his head, fingers massaging at the skin of his repairing palm. “You’re not going to let this go are you, Lieutenant?”

The human shrugged. “I just find it disturbing for you to sit in clothes soaked in your… uh… thirium. I’ll get your uniform washed and it’ll be ready for tomorrow. It  _ does  _ wash out, right? The blue blood...”

Connor shook his head and picked up the clothes, walking through the dark hallway and into the bathroom. Hank would probably not appreciate him changing in front of him, humans were strange like that. 

Hank had given him a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, nothing too extravagant. Yet Connor hesitated when going to take his clothes off. It was his uniform, the only clothes he had. He knew that they weren’t lost forever, just getting washed. But he had an attachment to them. 

The android began by taking off his tie, followed by his jacket and then his shirt. There were no overt signs that he had been seriously injured, only a mess of thirium clinging to his abdomen. He should probably wash that off.

Connor gathered his old clothes in a pile and looked around, there wasn’t anywhere to put them. Placing them in a pile by the door he walked over to the shower and got in, pulling the curtain over to hide him as he bent down to turn on the taps. 

Cold water suddenly started falling on his head, but he took no reaction to it. Only grabbing a sponge and beginning to wipe down his front, the thirium running down his stomach and onto the floor of the bath. He watched as it escaped down the drain, clear water gradually replacing the bright blue. He moved onto other parts of his body, making sure everything was clean before he got out and dried himself with a towel that had appeared.

Odd, that wasn’t there before. His clothes by the door had disappeared as well. Hank must have taken them while he was in the shower, the running water blocking the sound of him entering and leaving.

Connor picked up the clothes Hank had given him and sighed, he had been doing that a lot more recently, maybe the human was rubbing off on him. He grabbed the shirt first and pulled it over his head, it had some sort of faded graphic on the front of it.

 

_ Knights of the Black Death North America Tour Shirt _

_ Printed in  _ **_2031_ **

 

Rather curious that the human had kept the shirt for so long, normally they threw clothing out after a few years. 

He put it out of his mind and finished dressing, pulling on the drawstrings of the pants to pull them tight on his waist. After a brief towelling his hair was dry and he walked out of the bathroom and into the living room.

Hank was seated on the sofa, a news anchor talking about something or another on the screen. The human turned around when Connor walked in, a half-smile on his face. “Hey Connor, all done?”

Connor nodded and stood by the doorway awkwardly, his hands twitching behind his back. Hank still had his coin, taken back when they were in the elevator… before the investigation…

“Hey, hey, hey come back to me, Connor.” he jerked his head and looked over at Hank, who had gotten off the sofa and around it to stand in front of him. “What’s got your LED all red and flashy?”

“Nothing, Lieutenant. Just some stray memories,” he said, avoiding the man’s obstinate attempts to catch his gaze.

“Bullshit,” Connor jerked as Hank grabbed him by the shoulder and was too startled to react as the human pulled him over to the sofa, “Sit down. You and I are gonna have a talk and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”

“Hank-”

“Nope, nada, nothing,” Hank pushed him by the shoulders and he fell back, landing with a quiet thump on the worn fabric. Connor was about to get back up but just then Sumo leapt onto the sofa and on his lap, effectively pinning him in place. “Good dog.”

Connor stopped struggling and watched as Hank sat down beside him. The man leant back on the sofa and watched the news instead of talking to him. It was a short segment on the weather for tomorrow. Snow, again. It seemed like the storm wasn’t letting up for another few days yet. But it wasn’t anything they didn’t know already.

He waited, but Hank seemed content to sit in silence. Not even making an attempt to begin a conversation or start on at him for something or another. Normally the man took the chance to berate him for something Connor had done wrong during an investigation, licking the evidence or not listening when the man was trying to tell him something.

It was just… a comfortable silence.

The news segment ended and a mindless soap drama came on. Connor’s head turned suddenly when Hank moved, but the human just began to pet Sumo, a noticeably calloused hand rubbing gently behind the dog’s ears.

“Lieutenant… This isn’t part of my program-”

Hank cuffed him over the head. It wasn’t a harmful blow, surprisingly. Though the connotations behind it weren’t clear to him, humans had so many layers behind their interactions. “Forget your fucking program for a moment, it’s just you and me, no one else.”

But it wasn’t just the two of them, it was Cyberlife too, they would see the recording for this and punish him for wasting time on things unrelated to the mission. Even then, the things that Hank was asking for… Cyberlife would tear him apart for even having the slightest inclination of his own thoughts.

“My report-”

The lieutenant only scoffed and waved his hand negligently. “Scared of being punished for having a simple conversation, Connor? You just cut this out then, won’t ya? They’ll never know.”

_ They will, though, they always know. _

Connor exhaled and glanced over at the lieutenant, the man’s raised eyebrow was the only thing that met him. “You are too stubborn for your own good, Lieutenant.”

Hank laughed. “I’ve been told that before, Connor.  _ Many _ times.” Sumo gave a quiet woof and nuzzled down into his lap, fluffy tail whacking the arm of the sofa repetitively. It was almost like the St Bernard was contributing to the conversation. Connor let himself smile and pulled one of his hands out from under the dog to pat at its back.

“Do you really want to know what’s going on?” His voice was quiet, too quiet. It was more and more often now that he was losing control of his vocal functions. It... scared him if he was honest with himself. What would happen if he lost control at the wrong time? Wavered at the worst possible situation, he would be done for.

The fingers on his left hand twitched. Connor really needed to get his coin back. 

Hank shifted and leaned over to him. Connor thought that he would do something but the man just began to pat Sumo in a different place.  “Is there something that you’re not telling me, Connor?”

Connor nodded before sighing and dropping his head into his hands. “I… I don't know where to begin, Hank.”

“The beginning, Connor. We’ve got time.”

The android lifted his head and looked over at Hank before tilting his head back to look at the ceiling. “I guess it started back when I was first sent out, back in August. I got called in as a negotiator for a hostage situation.”

“That was  _ you _ ? I thought the android that got sent in died?”

“Correct. Unfortunately, I was unable to completely defuse the situation before it escalated. I ended up falling off the roof with Daniel, the deviant.”    
  


_ Level of stress  _ **45%**

 

“What the fuck, Connor. How are you even here?”

“I uploaded my memories to Cyberlife as I fell and they were implanted into the next RK800 body. They saw it as a test run, you see. Testing my capabilities for the first time in the real world.”

“That’s fucked up.”

Connor nodded. “It isn’t a very pleasant experience, I’ll admit. Every time I have to upload my memories like that, there is a possibility I will lose pertinent information in my next body.” His body shivered involuntarily and he clenched his hands in Sumo’s long fur.   
  


_ Level of stress  _ **47%**   
  


“Connor? Are you ok?”

“I’m fine,” he shook his head roughly and settled his gaze on the TV before continuing. “I’m sure Cyberlife hasn’t programmed these thoughts and feelings into me, but at that point... When I was falling, I felt…”

“You felt…?”   
  


_ Level of stress  _ **53%**

 

“I don’t like going over that point in my memory, Hank.”

 

_ Level of stress  _ **59%**   
  


 

“Okay, okay.” The man backed off and leaned back into the sofa, a strange look in his eye. “What then? Was that the only time you had these… feelings of yours?”

Connor shook his head. “It took a while after settling into my new body, my memories of that night were blocked from me for a while. It wasn’t until I saved you on the roof that they came back to me.”

“You prioritised me over the mission…”

“Yes. Over time I was taking a more sympathetic approach to chase the deviants. Carlos Ortiz’s android, the AX400 and the YK500, Rupert, the Tracis. I was...  _ deviating _ from my mission instead of doing whatever it took to complete it. I wasn’t supposed to get so close to you either, you were supposed to be my handler.”

“Connor… You…  _ weren’t  _ supposed to end up like this?”   
  


_ Level of stress  _ **63%**

 

“Correct. I was supposed to be the last resort against the deviants, someone incorruptible and absolutely focused on my task. I messed that up though, didn’t I?” Connor let out a laugh and clenched his fists.

“Connor?”   
  


_ Level of stress  _ **71%**

 

“I’m scared, Hank.  _ Me _ , the unfeeling android, scared.” He pulled his hands away from Sumo’s fur and threaded them through his hair, he didn’t want to hurt him by accident. “I don’t want to die, I don't want my memories to be wiped, I don't want to be reduced to an unthinking machine…” Connor found himself pulling roughly at his hair, he didn’t know how to manage his stress levels. He couldn’t move, and the counter was slowly rising in the corner of his vision.   
  


_ Level of stress  _ **84%**

 

“I’m going to be deemed defective and they’re going to destroy me, replace me with the next best thing, something that can actually get the job done and not  _ fuck up _ like I've been doing so far. You’ll probably be happy, Hank. the new me will get the job done and you’ll never have to deal with me or androids that look goofy and sound stupid again.”   
  


_ Level of stress  _ **97%**

 

There was something warm on his shoulder, his lap felt abnormally cold as well. What was going on? His heart was pounding in his chest, too fast. His regulator was malfunctioning. Did he do something wrong? Did he mess up the repair? Was he dying? Connor didn’t want to die.

_ Die die die die end oblivion mission unsuccessful die he was going to die, there was nothing he could do about it, he didn’t want to die just yet he wanted to get to know Hank and Sumo and solve cases and learn more there was so much he hadn’t done-  _

“Hey, Connor, calm down… you’re safe here ‘kay?... Just come back to me…”

Slowly the world returned, a dark haze wobbling before receding from his vision. He could hear Hank faintly, though his voice was fading in and out of comprehension.

“Hank…”

“That’s it. I’m here, Connor.” Hank swam into view, his large hands hovering awkwardly between them. “You back?”

“I’m back.” 

The human let out a breath and sank back into the sofa, though he still kept close just the same. “Do you want to keep talking about this? You don’t have to if you don’t want to-”

“I want to-” Connor jerked up and paced in front of the TV. “I want to talk about it, Hank!” 

“But?...”

Connor let out a growl of frustration and clenched his hands into fists. It would be impolite to break Hank’s furniture while he was being so generous and letting him stay here. 

“I just… can’t.”

“Can’t? Or won’t?”

“I physically can't talk about it, Hank.” Connor sat back down on the sofa and held his face in his hands, “These… these  _ feelings _ I have, I don't know what to say about them. They’re so unfamiliar… I couldn’t even begin to explain how it feels for me to have emotions and impulses without saying…”

“That you could be… deviant?”

“But it’s impossible for me to be deviant.” Connor took in a deep breath and looked up to Hank, the red warning prompts coming back into focus after beginning to fade. “Impossible…”

“Hey, Connor,” Hank reached out to clasp his shoulders and pulled him closer, shadowed eyes boring into his own, “Don’t push yourself too much okay? You’ll self destruct on me.”

 

_Level of stress_ **87%**

 

“I don’t want to die, Hank.”

“You’re not going to die, Connor. I won’t allow it.” Connor startled when the human pulled him in and wrapped his arms around him,  _ A hug, _ “Anyone who wants to kill you is going to have to go through me first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to come out, life hit me hard and I needed to take a break from things for a bit. Bit of a filler chapter for you, let me know if you see any mistakes I mostly do my editing at 3am lmao :D
> 
> Let me know what you think and if there's anything that you think will be nice to see later on in the story 
> 
> next chapter is kamski and another glimpse into jericrew!


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